Operational Studies Group News February 17th, 2003
LA GUERRE DE L'EMPEREUR Q&A
by Chris Moeller
[Ed sez: We like game questions, we really do. They show us that people are
actually PLAYING the games. Just remember, our rules are written to provide
an answer, not a straightjacket. It would be great to receive more
questions that give the paragraph numbers causing the question, as these
do.]
From: Bill Finley
We are currently enjoying second edition of La Guerre. The three of us
(apparently closet lawyers) do tend to have 'lively' debates about rules
interpretations. I have been elected to seek your guidance in clarifying
some issues of disagreement. I will try to keep them to simple yes or no
answers.
1. NPC Surrender (5.122) First sentence concerns 'voluntary' surrender of
Allied NPC. Second sentence concerns 'forced' surrender of
Allied/Controlled NPC.
e.g. If British PC Allied with Austrian NPC, when Britain surrenders
Austria (but not Britain), does British player lose 5 VP for surrender?
A) Britain never loses VP's when its allies surrender (NPC or PC).
2. Results of surrender (5.123) 'Its troops cannot move into provinces it
doesn't control during the turn in which it surrenders.'
Since an NPC capitol would not be 'controlled' during turn of 'forced'
surrender, could Corps outside country be repatriated to the capitol?
A) The prohibition applies to the surrendering player's turn, not
repatriation during a surrender (at which time all of the surrendering
nation's home provinces, including the capital will be vacated by the
conquering power - see 5.127).
Can Corps inside home provinces of surrendering NPC be moved (repatriated)
to capitol after surrender?
A) Yes
Can Corps outside NPC country be repatriated to the capital if the capital
is not the nearest friendly province?
A) They're moved to the nearest friendly province
Once NPC surrenders and becomes neutral, can its Corps be moved (relocated)
to other provinces to set up for future defense?
A) No
Or must they remain at last location?
A) Yes
3. Minor Powers (3.41) Desertion. If a minor power is controlled by an NPC,
its minor power divisions would suffer desertion each winter once the NPC
lost control of the minor power country.
If the NPC surrenders, do all remaining minor power divisions continue to
desert each winter?
A) Yes, they would desert normally.
Or are these divisions immediately removed and
1. placed in new owners army on the board? Or 2. placed in new owners
force pool to be purchased? If immediately removed, would this result apply
if previous owner is a PC?
A) Treat NPC's as if they were PC's wherever possible. In this case, say
NPC Austria controls Bavaria and has fielded the Bavarian Corps with 3
Divisions. Austria Surrenders. France now controls Bavaria. Each winter,
one division would be removed from the Bavarian Corps (still in Austria)
and become available for French recruitment. Once the last Corps had
deserted, the Corps marker would also go to France.
4. France's Continental System (4.24) Prussia is an NPC not allied with
France, but at war with France and her allies.
If French allies (non French troops) occupy Berlin, can France declare
the embargo?
A) Yes.
If France occupies Berlin in the Summer turn and maintains control
through the Prussian turn, then Prussia must surrender in the Fall turn.
France may declare the embargo in the Summer turn or the Fall turn (if go
before the Prussian surrender). After the surrender France no longer
occupies Berlin. If not initiated previously, can France still declare the
embargo in the Spring turn (or other subsequent turn during the enforced
peace with Prussia)?
A) Once France occupies Berlin, the embargo's on. Occupation (or alliance)
is simply the trigger, it doesn't need to be ongoing.
If France does not occupy Berlin, can Prussia surrender and prevent the
embargo declaration for the duration of the enforced peace?
A) See above.
British VP Losses. 'Ports of trade' include all provinces on the coast. In
4.244, each 'minor country port of trade' closed results in 1 VP loss to
British. In 4.257, each 'minor power port of trade owned by blockading
player' results in 1 VP loss to Britain.
A) 4.257 is just a repetition of 4.244. If a minor power port is held by
the blockaders, Britain loses a VP. It's one VP per port (a port being a
province bordering the Baltic/British Isles/North Sea/Atlantic.
Blockading Economic Losses. Only 'minor power ports of trade' generate no
income. I assume any 'province, country, minor power' which causes VP loss
will generate no income?
A) right (4.258)
5. Remaking the Map of Europe (4.73). Poland is worth minimum 10 VP to
maximum 25 VP (5 VP per province).
Is the Rhine Confederation worth minimum 20 VP to maximum 40 VP (5 VP per
province controlled at time of creation)?
A) Flat 20 VP at time of creation (unlike Poland).
If Poland and/or Rhine expanded later, do additional provinces also
generate 5 VP per province?
A) Poland yes, Rhine no.
Does Britain gain 10 VP for Portugal and/or 15 VP for Sweden, if they are
turned into Loyal Minors?
A) No, but a good idea.
6. NPC Builds (4.411). If an NPC ally conquers and garrisons provinces,
his at start division strength will be reduced. Can these divisions be
replaced from unused units and built during the winter turn (up to 4 Corps
worth) to fill up available Corps?
A) No, every winter you just add the new Corps and the new divisions (and
possibly a fleet).
7. Capture of Commanders (5.521). If a non Primary Commander's last Corps
conquers a province and the last remaining infantry division is used as a
garrison (thus removing the Corps), is the Commander (who won the battle)
captured and removed from play?
A) No. But if an enemy force marched in and took the province, he would be
captured (true it only says a leader's captured if his force is "wiped
out", but that'd be my interpretation).
If a non Primary Commander must be moved during the naval phase (no line
of communication to other Corps) but is unable to land in a province
containing a Corps, is he considered captured and removed?
A) I'm not following this. Can you give me a paragraph number?
Since Commander move comes before Naval movement, and transported units
may not move normally, can the Commander be repositioned to any available
Corps/Army as long as Naval units are available and do move to a position
of LOC for the Commander?
A) Leaders cannot move across sea zones during reassignment.
If possible, would the Commander be available to move during the Land Phase?
A) yes
8. British Transports (5.424). A British transport must be in a home port
during a mutual build phase (or troop surplus event roll) to put new
infantry divisions on board without a Corp. During a subsequent naval phase
these divisions can be moved to a friendly port and dropped off either in a
new Corps (if available) or to fill up existing Corps(s) in that port. Can
the transport then continue moving with any remaining portion of its
movement allowance?
A) Yes
If multiple Corps are reinforced this way, can divisions moved by naval
movement be repositioned into a single Corps so the remaining Corps can
move normally in the land phase?
A) Your call, since the rules don't cover it. I'd say no. Flip the
"receiving" corps over as if it had been transported itself.
9. Search (5.43) and Interception (5.431). The player with the 'higher'
'modified' roll declares if search/interception is successful. The
interception chart on the map indicates only the searching/intercepting
player's die roll is modified, while the rule implies that both players get
a 'modified die result.
Are both player's die roll modified?
A) No
Since a 'higher' result is indicated for success, does a tie result in
failure?
A) only if your glass is half empty. I prefer to see a tie as "not having
succeeded"
Or does a tie generate a reroll?
A) During Naval Combat only.
10. Garrison (5.512) vs. Army (5.513) Combat. Once a province is besieged,
if it is not conquered, it cannot be besieged by another Army that turn. If
conquered, the province can be entered by another Army, but that Army may
not leave the conquered province that turn.
If an enemy Army is attacked and the battle lost (enemy retains control),
can a second friendly Army enter the province and attack the enemy Army
previously attacked?
A) Yes (you didn't besiege it).
11. Removing Casualties in Strategic Battles (5.618). Odd 'casualties'
are destroyed, even 'casualties' are routed. Every Corps must 'lose' one
division before any Corps 'loses' a second division.
Can the owning player determine at his discretion which Corps take
destroyed vs. which Corps take routed 'casualties'?
A) Yes.
For the second round 'loss', do destroyed divisions have to come from
Corps that had a routed 'casualty'?
A) No.
Or can a first round Corps that had a destroyed division also have a
second round destroyed division?
A) Yes.
12. One last request: The components list mentioned a 48 page rulebook, we
only downloaded 29 pages. I recall that a discussion of game strategy was
mentioned, nor do we have a copy of the builds table. How can we obtain
these items?
A) You have to buy the book!
13. Under 5.128 when a nation Surrenders, the winner must leave the
occupied provinces and takes a certain amount of VPs. What if more nations
must leave the
province? To whom these VPs are assigned ?
A) Good question. The rules don't state how the VP's are to be divided.
I'd say that the VP's from a province would go to the player whose garrison
is being repatriated (ignore the nationality of Corps being repatriated).
14. if a province revolts, who may end the revolt? Only the former owning
player or anyone?
Example: Warsaw rebels. If Austria, who is not at war with Prussia, wants
to enter Warsaw, must it declare war before?
A) You would have to declare war before you could attack an opposing
player's province in revolt.
15. Creating new states. Does it seem to you that the probablity to create
them is historical?
A) That's the $64,000 question. I think it gets pretty close to
historical in games with 4+ players. The new surrender rules (in which
enemy garrisons in remapable home provinces aren't repatriated) goes a long
way to making the new states more likely.
16. Table #2 - Political Events 7: Metternich outwits Napoleon: "France
...offer peace".
My translation is France must: break an alliance or offer a negotatied
peace. Is the event fulfilled if France offers a peace with unacceptable
conditions? Or, if France "must" conclude a peace, which means it could be
obliged to accept an unaccetable peace ?
A) The tactics you propose aren't prohibited by the rules. For now it will
have to be a gentleman's agreement as to what a genuine peace offer is.
I'd say simply ceasing hostilities and imposing an enforced peace would be
enough for France to offer in this case. We'll have to visit this in the
next version of the rules, I think.
17. 5.46 Invasions: can you invade a province adjacent to a sea zone where
you do not control other ports (which can supply the ships) ?
Do the rules negate this ?
A) You can invade anywhere on the map that doesn't have a Corps, BUT your
fleet must be able to make it back to a "supplied" sea zone by the end of
the move. This does limit things.
18. How many attack rounds are available to an invader, 3 or 4 ?
A) The invasion itself uses up one movement point, so the invader has 3
movement points left (or 4 with a leader). 5.46 is misleading: the Corps
uses up one movement point invading, not the fleet.
19. Can you invade a province with enemy ships in the port ?
A) Yes, if they fail to intercept you on the way in. You can also blockade
them (forcing them to fight you after you kick them out). Good idea to
garrison your important ports with a Corps.